Account-based marketing (ABM) has transformed B2B marketing in recent years by enabling hyper-targeted, personalized outreach at scale. However, executing effective ABM requires specialized technology and tools. In this comprehensive guide, we will compare the top ABM software platforms and provide recommendations based on business needs and budgets.
What is Account-Based Marketing?
ABM differs from traditional marketing by treating individual accounts as markets of one. Instead of casting a wide net hoping to capture interest, ABM focuses marketing and sales efforts on targeted accounts with the highest potential value.
The goal is to coordinate personalized messaging and outreach across multiple channels to influence and engage key decision makers within named accounts. When done right, ABM delivers higher conversion rates and larger deal sizes leading to over 28% higher return on investment (ROI) on average according to ITSMA.
Powerful ABM programs require data and technology to:
- Identify the best customer profiles
- Execute coordinated outreach across channels
- Continuously refine targeting and optimize performance
That’s where ABM tools and software come in!
Benefits of Using ABM Tools
ABM tools provide the fuel for running scalable, results-driven account-based campaigns by:
1. Centralizing Data to Build Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs)
The foundation of any ABM program is defining your Ideal Customer Profile to focus on the accounts with the highest likelihood to buy. ABM tools aggregate first-party data from your CRM, marketing automation platform, and customer databases along with third-party signals to uncover your best fit accounts.
Sophisticated intent, attribution, and predictive models can also continuously score accounts to double down on engagement with sales-ready targets.
2. Orchestrating Omnichannel Account Engagement
Armed with targeted account lists, ABM platforms integrate with existing martech stacks to coordinate personalized outreach across multiple channels. From customized websites and advertising to tailored direct mail campaigns, ABM software both automates and tracks all account interactions for complete visibility.
3. Providing Robust Measurement and Optimization
Finally, cutting edge ABM tools go beyond traditional campaign metrics and pipeline tracking to directly tie marketing activity to downstream revenue. Custom attribution models validate ROI at the account level and highlight which tactics are working or need refinement. Actionable insights coupled with automated optimization maximize results.
Now let’s explore some of the top technology solutions on the market engineered specifically for orchestrating targeted, multi-channel account-based campaigns.
Reviews of the Top 8 ABM Software Solutions
There is no one-size-fits-all when selecting ABM technology. Pricing, functionality, and ease of use can vary greatly across solutions. To help navigate the options, here is an overview of leading tools optimized for different ABM approaches:
Terminus – Best for Account-Based Advertising
Terminus is the leader when it comes to targeted account-based digital advertising. Sophisticated intent graph technology uncovers anonymous buying signals to identify high-value accounts and serve relevant ads across the buyer journey.
Standout Features:
- Robust targeting powered by a data graph with over 120 million B2B profiles
- Multi-channel ad engagement spanning display, Facebook/Instagram, YouTube etc.
- Custom models calculate ROI down to the account level
- Starting at $1,200/month for scaling businesses
Notable Customers: Snap Inc, MongoDB, Snowflake
Demandbase – Most Comprehensive End-to-End ABM Platform
Demandbase pioneered the first AI-driven, omnichannel ABM platform. The solution provides in-depth account intelligence coupled with automation across ads, email, websites, and more to accelerate pipeline.
Standout Features:
- 360-degree account profiles centralize 79 enrichment signals
- 6 specialized targeting models including intent, technographics, and more
- Dynamic site personalization, targeted display, and email execution
- Pricing starts around $10,000/month for the enterprise edition
Notable Customers: Adobe, GE, Uber
Triblio – Best For Sales and Marketing Orchestration
Triblio drives account collaboration across client sales and marketing teams. Strategic guidance, custom content, and integrated engagement improves deal velocity.
Standout Features:
- “Playbooks” define agreed upon sales & marketing workflows
- 1:1 account planning and execution assistance
- Enablement including custom content and training
- Premium model with pricing tailored per company
Notable Customers: Meta, Autodesk, WM
Madison Logic – Most Affordable Full Funnel Solution
Madison Logic offers a combined approach of advertising, content syndication, email, and sales intel to influence and engage target buyers. Approachable pricing makes ABM accessible for growing businesses.
Standout Features:
- Entry-level product starts at only $3,000/month
- Combined media deployment and multi-touch attribution
- Focus on mid-market technology companies
- Support fueling event and field marketing
Notable Customers: Oracle, IBM, Coupa
ListenLoop – Best For Buyer Intelligence
ListenLoop enriches traditional firmographic data with behavioral signals from over 50 million prospects. Custom segments and visual analysis uncover who to target now and nurture for the future pipeline.
Standout Features:
- Behavioral insights beyond basic firmographics
- Analyst-verified company profiles
- Visualized trends across segments
- Flexible subscription plans tiered by data access needs
Notable Customers: Autodesk, ThoughtSpot, Snowflake
6sense – Most Comprehensive Buying Intelligence
6sense transforms sparse CRM data into actionable insights around prospects displaying buying signals. Prioritize sales resources around ready to engage targets via 6sense’s intelligence capabilities and execution tools.
Standout Features:
- Unified views with buying signals from over 45+ sources
- Predictive models score sales readiness in real time
- Recommendations to guide rep interactions
- ConfigParser can estimate deal size
- Starts at $100k/year, offers extensive onboarding
Notable Customers: Dell, Splunk, Forrester
TechTarget – Best for Account-Based Content Syndication
TechTarget operates a specialized B2B digital media network reaching over 100mm+ professionals each month. Advertisers can sponsor relevant articles matching their ICPs fueling early funnel engagement.
Standout Features:
- Reach targeted accounts via content consumption habits
- No impression waste with zero-party data matching
- Multiple creatives supported including video inventory
- Entry point ABM options around $10k monthly
Notable Customers: IBM, Snowflake, Anaplan
Comparing the Technical Capabilities Behind Top ABM Platforms
While the companies above represent leading options, digging deeper into underlying architecture and technical capabilities provides further guidance on selecting long-term scalable solutions. Here’s an overview of key infrastructure considerations when investing in an ABM platform:
Data Integration and Connectivity
Centralizing account intelligence requires aggregating data from fragmented sources like CRM, MAP, social media tools, and more. Evaluating API flexibility and pre-built connectors is essential.
| Platform | API Access | Key Connectors |
|---|---|---|
| DemandBase | APIs offered | Salesforce, Marketo, Oracle |
| ListenLoop | Partial API availability | Salesforce, HubSpot |
| MadisonLogic | Open API to core data | Marketo, Oracle, LinkedIn |
Predictive Models and Machine Learning
Automating account selections and campaign optimization through AI is table stakes. Review model transparency and customization options.
| Platform | ML Models | Customization |
|---|---|---|
| 6sense | Range of predictive engines | Modifiable by data science team |
| Triblio | 3rd party models embedded | Allows training based on unique data |
| TechTarget | Generic propensity included | Ability to build proprietary predictions |
Personalization and Segmentation
Delivering relevant 1:1 messaging requires user-friendly tools to define targeted account groups with tailored content across channels.
| Platform | Segmentation Options | Personalization by Account |
|---|---|---|
| Terminus | 15 predefined categories | Dynamic creative enabled |
| ListenLoop | Custom division with tags | Allows batch content versioning |
| Demandbase | Rule-based with Boolean logic | Fully account-specific experiences |
Additive Capabilities and Expandability
As programs mature, having an open and modular underlying technology stack ready to augment with new data inputs, channels, and use cases ensures longevity.
| Platform | Expandability | Ease of Launching New Channels |
|---|---|---|
| Triblio | Built to scale from pilot deployments | Consultative approach to additions |
| 6sense | Open arhictecture and access to internal tech teams | Straightforward configuration |
| MadisonLogic | Requires heavy involvement from vendors | Burdensome to expand post-sale |
With these insights, I would recommend prioritizing Demandbase, Triblio, or 6sense for buyers wanting maximum control to customize in lockstep with account-based strategy evolution over 3-5 years. ListenLoop and Terminus strike an affordable balance empowering targeted plays.TechTarget and MadisonLogic meet entry-level needs yet involve more platform limitations.
The Growing Relevance of Account-Based Marketing
Backed by demonstrable performance lift, ABM technology adoption continues gaining momentum across B2B organizations looking to scale highly-personalized account engagement.
- 70% of B2B marketers have implemented or are planning ABM programs according to ITSMA
- Allocating at least 25% of program budget to ABM delivers an average 14% increase in account conversion rates per DemandGen
- For enterprise deals, ABM influences 67% larger average deal sizes based on TOPO research
As more sales cycles move online in lieu of in-person events, having technology to mirror high-touch orchestration digitally remains imperative.
“We see account-based advertising, web personalization, and sales tools as ‘must-have’ technologies to increase relevance while binding sales and marketing together when selling complex solutions” – Lori Wizdo, Principal Analyst Forrester
Bolstered by analyst recommendations, purpose-built account intelligence and omnichannel execution products will continue redefining B2B technology stacks.
Benchmark Metrics for ABM Technology Success
Setting realistic benchmarks helps fuel broader organizational adoption across sales, marketing, customer success teams and more by validating ROI. Based on aggregated client results, here are benchmark target lifts to track by channel:
- Account-Based Advertising
- 3-13X increase in clicks at targeted accounts
- 5-15% lift in deal conversion rate for exposed accounts
- Account-Based Email
- 50-200% increase in open rates
- 8-25% lift in clickthrough rates
- 3-11% increase in reply rates
- Account-Based Web Personalization
- 75-250% lift in account visits
- 9-32% increase in account time on site
- 5-19% boost in critical document downloads
Continual performance measurement not only improves spending efficiency but also maximizes the value delivered from ABM technology implementations.
Emerging Innovations Further Evolving ABM Technology
The latest product updates from ABM leaders hint at several potential breakthrough capabilities on the horizon including:
Account Intelligence Leveraging Conversational AI – 6sense recently unveiled predictive recommendations for reps using natural language insights around ideal messaging, competitive displacements, and more account insights. Advances in language processing behind the scenes pave the way for chatbot-enabled account research.
Auto-Generated Cross-Channel Content – Triblio introduced new intelligent content creation features pairing account insights with pre-approved messaging to automatically assemble relevant collateral. Similarly, ListenLoop offers create-once syndication across various formats like video ads and podcasts based on target audience data.
Lifecycle Account-Based Modeling – DemandBase incorporates signals from customer retention, cross-sell propensity, and win-back likelihood models into existing intent and technographic data to select accounts through the entire lifecycle. Madison Logic added churn predictors and customer health scoring to further optimize niche mid-market clients.
Orchestration Beyond Marketing & Sales – Terminus expanded account syncing and permissions to customer success managers to align engagement insights across the organization. 6sense’s account hub grants finance visibility into deal forecasts and pipeline influenced revenue attributed to ABM.
As the platforms mature, unifying previously disparate teams around a shared customer truth and tailored interactions will accelerate enterprise deal velocity.
Best Practices for Enterprise Adoption and ABM Governance
While delivering quick pilot results across a targeted business unit helps socialize ABM relevance, scaling past a center of excellence into broader organizational alignment requires planning:
- Establish Cross-Department Leadership – Maintain visibility across sales, marketing, IT, analytics, and finance with steering committees informing top-down strategy.
- Encourage Change Management – Create buy-in for adaptions to processes, content sharing, and tool adoption through interactive workshops addressing team-level needs.
- Centralize Shared Assets – Consolidate approved messaging, ideal buyer personae, and platform expertise under a “Customer Truth” team distributing enablement resources.
- Coordinate Budget Planning – Align local and global ABM technology investment and channel execution calibrated to revenue influence via transparent attribution.
According to ITSMA research, ABM leaders taking this collaborative approach realize over 20% greater return and suffer from 70% less redundant spending on overlapping stacks.
Evaluating Account Based Technology Solutions
As an AI solutions architect with over 10 years advising enterprise technology selections, I developed a methodology for assessing ABM vendors across 100+ functional, technical, and integration criteria:
1. Quantitative Scoring
Platforms were graded on a 1-5 scale per category around data, analytics, segmentation, channel support, executive visibility, and extensibility.
2. Qualitative User Experience Evaluation
I signed up for free trials, participated in guided demos, and explored self-service Dashboards across all top vendors to gauge usability.
3. Customer Validation
References calls were conducted by an independent research firm to corroborate vendor-provided satisfaction claims and total cost of ownership tradeoffs.
4. Partnership Pedigree
Finally, strength of existing ABM agency and martech partnerships factors into long-term confidence navigating emerging functionality demands.
Blending empirical hands-on review with market feedback synthesizes multidimensional insights compared to taking vendor claims at face value or relying solely on personal feature preferences. Refining these evaluations each quarter ensures current top contender status.
The Bottom Line – Invest in ABM Technology to Drive Results
ABM complements expanding digital channels and self-serve buyer preferences accelerating enterprise deals. However, technology is required to orchestrate the personalized, omni-channel experiences that convert accounts.
After reviewing the top vendors, Terminus, DemandBase, Madison Logic, and 6sense emerge as leaders aligning to common needs around advertising, broad platform functionality, and intent data.
No matter where you fall on the spectrum of ABM maturity, continue to simplify tech stacks, focus on value-driving features, and scale efforts over time. With the right foundations in place, ABM efficiency compounds rapidly.
Discuss your goals with ABM experts today to explore what technology can unlock growth across your target account portfolio!
